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Astoria to La Push wasn’t terribly notable. We crossed the big bridge after saying good bye to the Sea Lions who had serenaded us so well and we were in Washington State again heading north.

Along the way, we stopped into Aberdeen. It’s a sad and rundown town that’s seen better days. We walked up and down in the main section of town and many stores were closed and things had, to me, a bad feeling. I was glad to depart.

I believe we’re all doing the right thing by controlling lumbering to hold it within renewables limits but it is sad to see the severe effect the cutbacks in productivity have had on many communities in this area.

We drove on and reached La Push by mid-afternoon.

They said that the room rate for then upstairs room I wanted would be $89 a night and I tried to negotiate $80 since, I said, we’d be there three days. Result? They said they were having a special and I could have it for three nights for the price of two! Damn – lucky boy again.

We checked in and then went back to Forks for supplies and then settled in for the evening with the constant sound of the waves outside.

Dennis

We got up early this morning and we were out by 830AM.   Alan was up with us and we ate cereal and yogurt and talked with him.

The new plan, just concocted last night, is to drive to Astoria, Oregon today.   The original plan was to go back to Portland for a second night but we’ve seen Portland and it wasn’t particularly nice to us whereas Astoria is a new adventure.   I’ve only been to Astoria once, years ago, but my memories of it are positive.   It sits in Oregon on the south side of the Colombia as it pours into the Pacific Ocean after draining a land area the size of France.   I remember an amazing looking bridge and an observation tower.

Alan tells us that many wealthy people from Portland would go out to the coast to a town just north of Seaside where the highway we’ll be on will intersect with the coastal highway 101 route.  Sounds interesting.

Soon, with hugs and good wishes dispensed, we’re off with some quiche from Sasha’s coffee shop along for a lunch snack.

My iPad maps the route out of Eugene and onto the 5 north and that makes things easy for us.   Eugene is more complex this way than one might suspect.

Driving was smooth if, perhaps, a bit boring as interstate highways are wont to be.   When we got to Beaverton, Oregon (suburb of Portland to the west)  and were ready to turn west towards the coast, we were considerably further along that I’d thought we would be so a lunch stop was postponed until we might see something of interest. 

It arrived, eventually, in the form of a rest stop called ‘Sunset’.   For those of you remembering that I wrote about Sunset yesterday, please forgive me.   I’m writing this three days after the events and things are beginning to get mixed a bit after so much constant travel and stimulus.   I don’t want to hear any whispering out there in the peanut galleries about   “alzheimer’s”.

So, we pull into the rest stop for a brief walk and a rest and discover that it is adjacent to a walk in the forest behind the stop.   Cool!   We put on suitable shoes and grab the quiche to nibble on and wade in.   40 minutes later, we’re out again having seen  lots of great Pacific Northwest flora.   The trail was well maintained but it’s winter and several trees were down over the trail which we had to clamber around.   It was a great walk and a lot of nice photos were taken.

Then we took off again heading west towards the coast.   The road dead ended into highway 101 at Seaside which is a nice touristy beach town.   We drove around soaking it up for 30 minutes or so and looking for a Starbucks but we never found one and, eventually, we headed down the road towards Astoria.

We found a coffee shop in Warrenton, which is just before Astoria and we did our now standard thing.   We grabbed a coffee in the local Starbucks and scoped out the motels in Astoria via booking.com.   Soon, we had one and I called and talked him down $10 for the night.  It was $80 which was more that we’ve been paying but, hey, it was just by the river, had a view of the Astoria Bridge and it had sea lions singing everyone a concert all night.

We checked in and then went for a look about town.   First call was the Astoria Column.   It’s on top of a big hill overlooking the town and you can walk up in it (164 steps worth) and then you come out onto a little platform behind a railing that goes all the way around.

This was the first time I’d realized that Colette has a sometimes thing about heights.   She said she began stressing out half way up the column and there was no way she was coming out onto the platform once we’d ascended all the way.  So, I left her inside the door peeking out and took both our cameras and took a bunch of shots.   Then she and I walked back down slowly and she was fine.

When we got down to the ground, we were still on the top of a high hill with excellent views and it was just coming up on sunset so we stayed and watched the show.   I watched for the ‘green flash’ but I didn’t see it.

After the column, we drove into town and had a good look around.  Astoria’s an odd town.  A bit run down like it is struggling economically and it certainly looks as if there’s been no new money put into the downtown in many years.   It also has an isolated feel like one can’t quite figure out why it is there where it is.   Like, what sustains it?   And, it has a counter-culture vibe like, say, Port Townsend.

Colette and I walked up and down the main street and stepped into a combination coffee bar and book store that looked fun.   While we browsed, we couldn’t help but hear the loud banter at the coffee bar between three or four people.   They were going on in a humorous way about drugs and vibrators and all sorts of bizarre things.   It made for interesting shopping; I’ll give them that.   Both Colette and I found a book we liked and bought it.   I got a copy of Jack Kerouc’s, “On The Road” for $8.00 that I was quite happy with.

A bit more walking and then it was back to our hotel room on the third floor up above the Colombia River and the Sea Lion concerts.  Have to say, I loved the view out the window where that were several ships anchored sitting very high because they were empty.   I assume they were waiting to go upriver to take on loads of ore for Japan or some such.

dennis

The day at Alan and Rita’s began quietly with coffee and talk.

They’ve rented this house in Eugene.   They sold the one they had in Woodinville, Washington and now they are content to just rent here for the time being.   This is a beautiful 2200 square foot two-story house with a two-car garage.   The layout is really nice and you easily like the place.   Two of the bedrooms are truly huge and the other two, quite reasonable.  Amazingly, they only pay $1795 a month for it which I thought was a really low price compared to what I heard places go for in, say, Irvine, California, or the San Francisco area.   The rental price includes whatever yard work is necessary as well.

Alan had a list of places he wanted to take us round to see so about 10 AM we went outside to take off in his van and discovered that someone had backed into our rental car.  That was a surprise and a problem as it necessitated that we restart our plans and put resolving this issue to the top of our list.

Colette and I sat a few minutes and mentally reconstructed our insurance arrangements.  We’d sorted all of it out throughly before we’d flown to the US but now several weeks had passed since we’d had occasion to think about it.  

We finally worked out that (1) the insurance that protects other folks if we’re in an accident with them is the non-owner liability insurance we took out with Geico.  And that (2) the insurance that protects our health if we’re in an accident is the Southern Cross Travel Insurance we took out.   So, by process of elimination, the (3) insurance that protects us against damage to the rental car is the insurance that comes to us for free when we put the entire cost of a rental car onto my Platinum Master Card.   Bingo.

So, I called them and told them I’d been in a fender-bender and that I’d like to file a claim because for sure when we turned the rental car in, Budget Rent-a-Car was going to WANT the money to repair their car from the damage that had been done.

I talked to a nice lady at the credit card’s customer service number named Michelle who told me that it would take us 10 to 20 minutes to complete the claim application over the phone and thus we started in.

After 10 minutes or so of questions, she told me that for sure the claim would be disallowed and I asked why.   She said that the fine print in the credit card insurance agreement stipulates that the car rental agreement contract cannot exceed 45 days and, since I’d rented the car for 60 days, we were ineligible to claim under this insurance.

Whoosh, that took the wind out of me.   We’d been so careful to make sure that we had all of our little insurance ducks in a row before we’d come the the US and now here we were discovering that we’d never been covered for “Loss Damage” insurance in spite of the fact that the entire rental had been put onto the credit card.

I asked her if there were any appeals or other avenues open to me and she said that she was very sorry but that there were not.   I was, indeed, toast.

While we considered that, we also realized that there were other issues before us.   Like (1) now that we knew that we did not have “Loss Damage” insurance, we were going to need some to cover us for the remainder of the trip in case there were other incidents.  And (2) the question of should we turn the damaged car in and get another or was that going to cause us problems? 

One line of reasoning was that if we turned the damaged car in and terminated the current contract, then we’d get a new car and a new contract and that new contract would be for less that 45 days so we’d pick up the “Loss Damage” insurance for free on the second contract.   But, the problem with this idea was that this would mean we’d have two cars; each of which had been picked up at point A and then dropped off at point B.   And the car rental places like Budget charge dearly for such remote drop offs.

On the other hand, if we kept the damaged car, then for sure we’d need to get the “Loss Damage” insurance and we’d have to buy it over the counter from Budget for about $15 a day for the remaining 42 or so days of our rental period.   That was going to be an unplanned expense.

And, finally, there was the issue that if we went into Budget to ask them about these options and had the car with us, they might see it and tell us we HAD to turn it in.

We took the car and tested it and determined that its drivability was undamaged; it was going to be fine if we kept it – other than the fact that the driver’s door wouldn’t open all the way.

So, we left the car at Alan’s and went in his van down to the Eugene Budget Rent-a-Car place and had a chat with the fellow there who was very helpful and understanding.

The trip was well worth making because he told us right off, after we’d explained our several quandaries, that Budget never rents cars for more than 31 days per contract.   He further said that if we’d rented the car for 60 days, then surely we’d have two sequential 30 day contracts in their system.

Hew asked to see our contract which I produced and he noted right off that it was handwritten.   I agreed it was and told him that the computers had been messing up the day we picked the car up at LAX and that the lady had created a handwritten contract for us so we could get going.   He then went into the system and caused it to print off a physical copy of our contract as it existed in their system.   And it was a 31 day contract covering the period of 8 November to 9 December.   Nice.  

He gave us a copy of it as this was exactly what we’d need to get the credit card folks to honor their insurance obligations to us since the operative contract was, indeed, for less that 45 days.   This also, neatly, removed the need for us to buy new “Loss Damage” insurance as well.

I asked then if he could print us off the 2nd contract that covered the period of 10 December through 5 January.   He could not and after he had a chat with the folks at LAX, we were advised that we’d need to call them ourselves on about December 8th, explain the situation and get them to E-Mail us a copy so we’d have proof that we had their car legally. He wasn’t sure exactly why they wanted to do it this way.

So, we left Budget much heartened by all of this news.   Once back at Alan’s, I called the credit card claim folks again and they instructed me how to write an E-Mail requesting that the previous denial be reopened and the claim approved.   And I did this.

So, finally, some hours after we set off for the day’s adventures, the mess with the car was as sorted out as we could make it so we set off for a second time.

Alan took us for a drive around town and up onto Skinner’s Butte which sits near downtown Eugene and which offers wonderful views over the city.  Some where in all of this, we also went into a Super Burrito place Alan knew and we all had a fine Mexican lunch for $8.00 which was a spectacular price.  I think Colette is becoming quite a fan of Mexican food.

Then Alan took us to a huge antique store which we all browsed about in for a hour.   There were numerous things there that Colette or I might have wanted to take home but given that home is in New Zealand, they weren’t practical so, in the end, we left them all there.

After that, Alan took us by an art supply store that Colette had seen at Pearl and 11th.   That place was fun as well.  We put 20 minutes worth of coins into the meter at the curb and when that time was up, Colette emptied her purse of coins with the request that we pump them all into the meter so she could stay longer (smile).   She found a special kind of Japanese painting paper she’d wanted and I found a great sharp artist’s pen.

We all then went to the market and Alan shopped according to a list made up by Rita for the materials for tonight’s dinner.   And, after all of that, we returned to Alan and Rita’s place.

Rita made a beautiful meal for us with Salmon and the other ingredients.   Justin and Sasha both joined us for the meal and a good time was had by all.   

We discussed US policies and how such things looked from the offshore and New Zealand POV’s.  

Colette was also asked about things in New Zealand which she she answered. 

I broached the subject of Jewishness.   Rita is Jewish and Alan isn’t.  And given the fact that Jewishness transmits in the maternal side, this means that both Sasha and Justin are both, technically, Jewish.   So I asked how all of this worked in their family.  I.E., was Rita of a secular or of a religious persuasion and what did all of this mean for how Justin and Sasha had been raised.   In all the years I’ve been friends with them, I’ve never known about these things nor had ever thought to ask about them. So, tonight was the night.

What a beautiful family they are.   Each freely spoke their POV about all of this.   Freely, relaxedly and with apparent enjoyment.   If only things were so sane and open in all families.  Religion can create such tension sometimes.  It was a great and free ranging discussion with everyone chipping in and I enjoyed it immensely.  As a family, they are quite wonderful.   They speak openly, lovingly and with relaxation to each other.   Everyone respects the others and neither Alan nor Rita plays ‘the parent card’ in so far as I could see.   Bravo, my friends.

My cold was still hammering me so I begged off for the night and went to snooze and thus ended and eventful and surprising day in many ways.

Tomorrow, we get up early and head out for Astoria where we’ll overnight on our way to La Push on the Washington coast.

dennis
J

Currently writing this a few days after the events. I’ve had a cold so my energy levels have been a little low. At the moment, as I type, we are sitting in the Comfort Suites in Astoria, Oregon listening to the sound of Sea Lions outside barking and honking which they seem to love to do all night. More about Astoria later.

So, back to the story in sequence… Bend to Engene today. Interesting country to pass through. Large parts of it are the Willamette National Forest.

We were curious to see if our impressions of Bend held up in a morning reviewing so we drove about in the residential districts east of downtown. And the impressions were still very favorable. Bend is, indeed, a nice town. It feels to me like in in Colorado someplace. I’m not sure what the twon does that makes it affluent. Skiing and the Annual Rodeo must be a part of it. There’s more I’m sure. It seems to have all the amenities that one loves in the Pacific Northwest and yet it’s considerably drier which can be nice.

From Bend, we drove northwest to Sisters. A town that calims 2000+ people but it looks a lot bigger than that. It has a nice western theme downtown and obviously has a lot to do with skiing in the area.

From there, we continued west into the Willamette National Forest and drove through miles and miles of forests and mountains. A lot of it was along the McKenzie Highway.

We continued along the road and into Eugene and arrived at Alan and Rita’s place in the south side of town.

I’ve known Alan and Rita since the late 80’s. They are good lifetime friends. The have a daughter, Sasha, who is a recent univeristy graduate and a son, Justin, who is in his last year of high school. Both wonderful young people.

After some visiting, we all went out for a look at the town and a meal. I’ve always like Eugene. It is a university town with a nice counter-culture feel to it as well as being a beautiful place. We put Colette up front in the car with Alan and Rita and I rode in the rear.

After some sight seeing, Alan took us to a beer place, The Steelhead, that also had a nice menu. It had a good atmosphere but not too noisy so we could talk easily. I had fish-n-chips which were great and a speciality beer that Alan recommended. After that, we went to a dessert speciality place (my, we are eating a lot!) and Colette and I shared a big piece of Blueberry Cheescake. Yum. Then we popped into the place were Sasha is working as a Barista. A beautiful place so more photos were taken.

Then home for a bit more chat and then we turned in for the night after a wonderfful day. Sasha was nice enough to give up her room for us for which we were very thankful.

dennis